"Laser!"
Sensing Tosen's attack, Kyoya didn't indulge him, casually returning fire with a laser beam.
Boom!
The golden laser beam directly blasted the purple waste flames apart.
Subsequently, Kyoya's body turned into golden light, swiftly zigzagging through the air in a straight line before appearing in front of Tosen, his right foot shimmering with a golden glow.
"Captain Tosen, have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
Although Kyoya knew Tosen was Aizen Sosuke's top lackey, now wasn't the right time to kill him.
Therefore, even though Kyoya could have attacked Tosen directly, he didn't strike immediately. Instead, he waited until Tosen assumed a defensive posture before delivering a kick.
Boom!
Kyoya's kick landed squarely on Tosen's Zanpakuto.
The tremendous force sent Tosen flying like a cannonball, smashing through a stone pillar outside the 1st Division's barracks before crashing to the ground.
"Tosen!"
Seeing this, Sajin was furious. Immediately, Sajin drew his own Zanpakuto, roaring angrily.
"Roar, Tenken!"
As Sajin roared, a gigantic arm appeared above him, holding a dozens-of-meters-long greatsword.
Sajin's Zanpakuto, [Tenken], manifests as a giant armored warrior dozens of meters tall when released.
In its Shikai state, it materializes partial limbs to attack according to Sajin's will.
This right hand moved in sync with Sajin, both raising their giant blades high before slashing down towards Kyoya's location.
The attack power of Tenken ranks among the top even among the many Captains.
Unfortunately, speed is Tenken's weakness.
With such speed, it was utterly impossible to hit Kyoya.
Sajin's strike carved a trench dozens of meters long and seven to eight meters deep into the 1st Division's training ground, sending clouds of dust high into the air.
Sadly, this attack did zero damage to Kyoya.
"Captain Komamura, be careful!"
Unohana shouted out a warning.
However, Kyoya's speed was even faster than Unohana's words.
By the time Sajin heard Unohana's voice, Kyoya had already appeared before him, his right index finger pointed at Sajin's chest.
This scene gave Kyoya a sense of deja vu.
It was somewhat similar to when Borsalino fought Whitebeard during the Summit War.
Whitebeard was much taller than Sajin, and Kyoya wasn't as tall as Borsalino either.
Yet, the comparison held a certain resemblance.
A golden laser beam shot from Kyoya's fingertip, instantly piercing through Sajin's chest. The powerful impact even sent Sajin's body flying backward for a distance.
"Bakudo #62, Hyapporankan!"
At that moment, over a dozen blue light pillars shot towards Kyoya.
If Kyoya continued to attack Sajin, he himself would be hit by these light pillars.
The Bakudo in Kido, besides physically restraining the body, also cause some disruption to the opponent's Reiatsu upon contact, thereby rendering the enemy unable to move.
The blue light pillars of Hyapporankan were no exception.
If Kyoya were struck by the blue light pillars, his own Reiatsu would fluctuate drastically, greatly reducing his control over Reishi.
At such a critical moment, even the slightest hesitation from Kyoya would inevitably lead to a torrent of attacks from the other Captains.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-
Kyoya lightly tapped his feet, his entire body moving like a phantom. The dozen or so blue light pillars released by Ginrei failed to touch Kyoya at all.
"Captain Unohana, please go check on Captain Tosen and Captain Komamura. I will hold the line here for now!"
Just as Unohana was about to continue attacking Kyoya, Aizen Sosuke drew his Zanpakuto. After instructing Unohana, he charged at Kyoya.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu!"
With Aizen's whisper, the entire 1st Division's training ground was enveloped in thick fog.
Instantly, all the Captains lost their vision and could only grip their Zanpakuto tightly, constantly alert to their surroundings.
"It's the ability of Captain Aizen's Zanpakuto..."
Kyoraku frowned.
Kyoraku didn't believe Aizen would make such a mistake.
That meant Aizen was doing this on purpose.
'So, what was Captain Aizen's goal?'
'Was it to let Captain Kyoya escape?'
'Are Captain Aizen and Captain Kyoya in cahoots?'
Though puzzled, Kyoraku still tried his best to spread his Reikaku, attempting to detect Kyoya's Reiatsu.
'Aizen has made his move?'
Sensing the situation around him, Kyoya's gaze grew more solemn.
Aizen could be said to be the antagonist in Bleach who should never be underestimated.
His failure was largely due to plot convenience.
Or perhaps, he became overconfident after obtaining the complete Hogyoku.
Otherwise, if Aizen had carefully inspected the Hogyoku, even if he couldn't detect the Kido Kisuke had hidden within it, he wouldn't have been so easily psychologically broken by Ichigo, leading his final evolution astray.
In Kyoya's view, the Aizen from the Thousand-Year Blood War arc was the correct evolutionary path.
If Aizen during the Arrancar Arc had been in that state when fighting Ichigo, he might not have lost to him.
Well, actually, even the failed-evolution Aizen didn't exactly lose to Ichigo.
Surviving a hit from [Mugetsu] without dying and still being able to use High-Speed Regeneration to recover, Aizen still had some combat power left.
However, after using his final Getsuga Tensho, Ichigo could no longer maintain his peak combat strength.
If Kisuke hadn't arrived and triggered the Kido hidden within the Hogyoku, Aizen would have been nearly invincible.
Contrary to Kyoya's expectations, although mist surrounded them, the Aizen he perceived with his Observation Haki and Reikaku showed no difference.
With a casual grip of his right hand, golden Reiatsu directly condensed into a blade of light in Kyoya's hand.
Ama no Murakumo!
For Kyoya, manifesting the Ama no Murakumo wasn't difficult at all.
If he wished, he could materialize it in an instant with a mere thought.
The reason he preferred to make a clasping hands drawing motion when pulling out the Ama no Murakumo was partly because, as a swordsman, drawing a sword with a bit of ceremony looked cooler.
On the other hand, it also served to mislead the enemy, making them think that materializing his Ama no Murakumo required some time.
Kyoya never underestimated Aizen.
Compared to Yhwach, the 'Son of the Soul King', Aizen was truly someone who rose from the 'bottom' to reach the level of the [Soul King].
Ichigo, needless to say, was conceived in accordance with the Soul King's will, born from the union of Isshin and the Quincy, Kurosaki Masaki, with the Hollow White created by Aizen's hand. He was a natural [Soul King Candidate].
The golden Ama no Murakumo clashed with Aizen Sosuke's Zanpakuto, unleashing a massive shockwave.
The surrounding Captains were forced back by the powerful impact.
"Which Captain is fighting Captain Kyoya?"
"It's also a sword fight..."
"Has Captain Unohana made her move?"
Although the Captains were unclear or had guessed wrong about who was fighting, they felt a sense of relief in their hearts.
At the very least, this shockwave meant they didn't have to worry about being attacked by Kyoya for the moment.
"The ability of Captain Aizen's Zanpakuto is stronger than imagined..."
After being pushed back by the shockwave, Kyoraku sighed inwardly.
Even he couldn't sense the Reiatsu of everyone around him under the influence of Aizen's Zanpakuto's Ability.
According to Aizen's explanation of his Zanpakuto's Ability, Kyoka Suigetsu could not only confuse the enemy's vision but also make them unable to distinguish friend from foe, ultimately leading to mutual slaughter within the mist.
This clearly involved the alteration of 'consciousness'.
[Sakanade], the Zanpakuto of the former 5th Division's Captain, Hirako Shinji, could also alter the perception of friend and foe after its Bankai, making it a very dangerous Zanpakuto.
In fact, during Shinji's tenure as Captain of the 5th Division, even though there was no ban on releasing Zanpakuto yet, Yamamoto restricted him from using his Bankai when teammates were present.
Otherwise, after a battle, it was possible that everyone on both sides except Shinji would be annihilated.
…
'Not bad!'
After the clash between the Ama no Murakumo and Kyoka Suigetsu, feeling the force behind Aizen's Zanpakuto, Kyoya mused inwardly.
It had to be said that Aizen, whether in terms of charisma or his own strength, was impeccable.
Just from the variations in the force transmitted through Kyoka Suigetsu, Kyoya could tell that Aizen's swordsmanship had already reached the level of a Master Swordsman.
The reason Zanjutsu in the Bleach World didn't develop 'flying slash' techniques like in the One Piece World had a lot to do with the combat styles of the Shinigami.
In the One Piece World, battles mostly took place at sea. To increase their attack range, swordsmen gradually learned swordsmanship that could unleash 'flying slashes'.
In the Bleach World, Shinigami had no shortage of long-range attack methods.
Among them, Kido was naturally the best long-range attack method for many Shinigami.
Secondly, the abilities of some Shinigami's Zanpakuto also possessed long-range attack capabilities.
Furthermore, as long as one's Reiatsu reached Captain-level, they could coat their Zanpakuto with powerful Reiatsu to execute Kenatsu.
Precisely because of this, Shinigami in the Bleach World didn't develop flying slash technique.
But this couldn't be said to mean the swordsmanship masters of the Bleach World were weak.
They just lacked direction.
After Kyoya demonstrated swordsmanship capable of unleashing flying slashes, many Shinigami began incorporating this swordsmanship technique into their own combat systems.
Kyoya wasn't sure about other Shinigami-
But for Aizen and Unohana, Kyoya knew these two would definitely reach the realm of Master Swordsman.
The only difference was the length of time required.
'It seemed now that Aizen had already reached this realm.'
'However...'
The corners of Kyoya's mouth lifted slightly.
Although his current Reiatsu was far inferior to Aizen's, who had reached the limit of what a Shinigami could achieve-
Kyoya's power wasn't just Reiatsu.
No longer restricting his own power, the force Kyoya erupted with directly forced Aizen back.
'Such tremendous power!'
Even Aizen couldn't help but marvel.
From the moment Kyoya began making a name for himself, Aizen had already noticed him.
At that time, Aizen had even considered the possibility of recruiting Kyoya under his command.
However, Kyoya's growth was simply too fast.
And the 'swordsmanship' Kyoya displayed filled Aizen with delight-
And he thought that perhaps he and Kyoya could understand each other, alleviating some of his loneliness-
But unfortunately, judging from Kyoya's way of handling things, Aizen believed Kyoya might get along better with Kisuke.
Yet today's actions by Kyoya left Aizen baffled.
He didn't understand what Kyoya truly wanted to do.
Why would Kyoya, who initially only wanted to leave peacefully, deliberately say he would take half of the 11th Division's members with him after the battles with Zaraki and Byakuya ended?
Didn't Kyoya know this would anger Yamamoto?
No, Kyoya knew.
Or perhaps, he did it on purpose.
So, what did Kyoya want to do?
It was precisely this curiosity that led Aizen to use Kyoka Suigetsu to hypnotize the present Captains and personally fight Kyoya.
He wanted to find out from Kyoya himself what Kyoya was really after.
This would determine whether he would treat Kyoya as an ally or an opponent in the future!
However, Aizen hadn't expected that even after almost going all out, he would still be forced back by Kyoya.
'This is purely physical strength!'
From this strike, Aizen was astonished, 'Just how powerful must Captain Kyoya's physical strength be to bridge the gap between 2nd-Class Reiryoku and the limit of 1st-Class Reiryoku?
In Aizen's perception, even Zaraki didn't possess such formidable physical strength.
"As expected, Captain Kyoya never fails to bring surprises!"
The smile on Aizen's lips couldn't help but show a touch of sincerity.
'With this level of physical strength, how could his Reiatsu only be at 2nd-class Reiryoku?'
'Just what kind of existence was he?'
Whoosh-
Kyoya's figure instantly appeared behind Aizen, the Ama no Murakumo in his hand drawing forth a spray of blood.
"Senka!"
The so-called [Senka] is a technique that combines Shunpo with Zanjutsu. It allows for rapid attacks on the enemy's [Saketsu] and [Hakusui] during the high-speed dash of Shunpo.